Millencolin – Ray (CD Review)

Millencolin are a Swedish pop-punk band in the skateboarder rock mould. They have five critically acclaimed albums under their belt and have left a string of sold out venues in the wake of their world wide tours. ‘Ray’ is being released as a prelude to their release of the new album ‘Kingwood’ on April 4th.

Ray has unusually highbrow origins as the press release says that the song borrows a metaphor (‘Panta Rei’, apparently translating to ‘You can’t cross the same river twice’ in the amazingly concise ancient Greek tongue) from the philosopher Herakleitos. The song itself has the jagged guitars and pacey melodic vocals of bands like A, Blink 182 and Weezer. The energy is undeniable, they are all a pogo dancers dream, and yet they seem muted by the recording process if the frenetic live track is anything to go by.